


Bloody Hands

by Squibbles94



Series: Peter Parker: Tales of Whump [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Michelle Jones, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23774323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squibbles94/pseuds/Squibbles94
Summary: When someone attacks the school, Peter is all that stands between a giant robot and his friends. Tony does not like this one bit and isn't afraid if anyone knows.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Peter Parker: Tales of Whump [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712665
Comments: 2
Kudos: 79





	Bloody Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies!
> 
> I already posted this in another story, but I decided to make this into an actual series instead of putting it in one big story. That way people can get specific tags to each story. So here you go!
> 
> Oh, also. This is written in present tense and I realize I hate writing in present tense but it was too late to change it so I just continued. But this will probably be one of the few that are actually written like this. 
> 
> Warnings: blood, sarcasm, canon typical violence.
> 
> I never thought I would have to write this but: Please don't repost my work on any other site without my permission.

There are times when Peter wants nothing more than to swing freely through the city and take down people who do bad things. He wishes he could do nothing other than protect the citizens of Queens and maybe hang out with Ned. Still, the reality is that he is a high schooler with responsibilities. So, he sits in his English class. He hates English so much. It's got nothing to do with his teacher because she is awesome and actually tries to make it fun. Still, it's just not something he is interested in. He would rather be working with Mr. Stark or even sitting in chemistry so he could work on his web formula.

He is tapping his pencil on his textbook when he feels it. It's been happening while he is on patrol or when Flash throws something at his head but never in this class. It is a cold feeling that creeps down his spine, screaming at him that something is wrong. When he first told Ned about it, they decided to affectionately name it his 'Spidey Sense'. Peter turns his head to his best friend and squints at him. Ned is bobbing his head as if he is singing or counting the seconds until school is over. 

Ned glances at him and smiles heartily as if nothing is wrong. Maybe he is just freaking out a bit. Peter shifts slightly in his seat and tries to pay attention to the teacher. She is going over the theme of Act 4 in Macbeth. Something about ghosts or kids getting killed or something. He isn't sure. Peter relaxes himself a bit more when nothing more happens with his spidey sense. It just sits there at a dull hum. 

The teacher is still droning on when his senses spike again. Before he can react, the building shakes around them, and they hear screaming from down the hall. He turns his attention to Ned, who is gaping at him with wide eyes. 

"What was that?" Ned asks, standing from his seat and grabs Peter's arms. 

"I don't know." 

"What are you doing to do!?" 

"Dude, I don't know! If I don't know what it is, I don't know what to do about it!" Peter looks around at his classmates, who are panicking. The teacher is trying desperately to get some control of the class. 

Peter's senses spike, and he pulls Ned to the ground just as the wall behind them explodes, and heavy plaster rains down on them. Before the similarity of concrete raining down on him can bring him back to that night he fought the vulture, he steadies himself. He climbs slightly over Ned and covers as much of his body as he can. 

He heals, Ned doesn't. 

When the building shifts again, Peter stands and pulls Ned to his feet, shaking the white specs off of them. They start running out of the classroom with the other students as the sounds of screaming filter down the hallway.

"Are you gonna put on your Spider-Man suit and fight off some big bad guy?" Ned asks in a huff.

"Shh. No, Ned. I don't have my suit!" Peter yells. He realizes he just asked Ned to be quiet, but his voice is still elevated, but hey, he's stressed.

"Peter, what are we gonna do?" 

"I don't…"

Before Peter can finish, the wall in front of them caves in, and he kicks himself for not making sure he has his web-shooters on him. He blocks Ned from the high wall crashing into them when he sees it. There is a huge robot hovering over the opening of the building, and it is flailing its metal appendages. If Peter had to guess, it has to have at least 6 of them. 

Okay. Not natural. Bad guy. Right. 

"Holy shit Peter! Do you see that?!" Ned screams in his ear.

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, I do. Ned, why wouldn't I see that?!" 

Ned blinks at him. He looks shaken when he says, "I-I think now would be a good time to call Mr. Stark. You know, I know you can handle this but I mean can you really handle this? It's not that I don't trust you; it's just this is … this is big." 

Peter looks up to see the robot taking another swing at the building. He pulls Ned out of the side door before the building can rain down on them even more. He glances around at the other people streaming out of the building and catches sight of M.J. She is standing by the edge of the tree line watching everything unfold. Her sketch pad is gripped firmly in her shaking hands, and she is sketching the robot that is tearing apart the school. 

Peter glances back at the robot and sees that it is covered in a shiny material that is capable of tearing apart a building without leaving any scratches or dents in the metal. It has a humanoid frame besides the various arms coming from its torso. They were moving too quickly for Peter to get an accurate count, but they were making quick work of the building in front of him. He can also see that some of the appendages have sharp knives at the end, while others are simply claws designed to tear the building apart. 

His musing is broken by a harsh ring of his cellphone. He grips it in his hand and answers it before checking the number. 

"Uh, yeah?" he answers.

"Mr. Parker, how nice of you to pick up the phone and tell me that there is an emergency at your school. It really warms my heart to see that you followed my instructions about keeping out of things and letting the adults handle it." 

"Uh. Mr. Stark? Ho-how do you know something is going on?" 

"Really, kid? Have you met me? Nevermind forget that. I want you to get somewhere safe, you hear me? I don't want you to get anywhere near that thing. We're on our way right now, and you need to just leave it to us." 

"We? Who's we?" 

Mr. Stark sighs, "don't worry about it. Just get somewhere safe and tell Ted to stop yelling. I can hear him through the phone, and it's annoying."

Peter had not realized that Ned was yelling until Mr. Stark pointed it out. He also didn't hear what Ned was yelling until his eyes swept across the field. M.J. is getting too close to the robot. She isn't as far away as she was the last time he saw her, and it looks like she is trying to grab the arm of another student that is frozen on the spot. To be fair, that isn't something that he can blame her for because he would do the same thing. 

A shot of ice runs down his spine just as the robot takes a chunk of the building and flings it. Right at M.J.

"M.J.!" 

He is running.

He grips the phone in his hand and pumps his legs as fast as he can. A mantra of _M.J. No. No. No. No._ is running through his head. He needs to get to her. He needs to be fast enough. 

Good enough. 

He is only a couple yards away. He can do this. He can prove that he is worthy of being called a hero. 

The debris from the building crashes into M.J. There is a sickening squelching noise that floats through the air, followed by a crack. M.J. hits the ground, her head snapping back onto the grass. A pole is sticking out of her abdomen, and there are various cuts along her cheekbone from where the smaller chunks of the building grazed her. 

"Oh, God. No, no, no. Please," Peter mutters as he crashes to his knees beside her and drops his phone to the ground. He doesn't want to touch her and make it worse, but her eyes are open, and she is gasping. 

"P-peter," she says breathlessly. 

"M.J. You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna fix this, okay?" Peter tries to keep his voice steady, but he can hear it shake. 

There is a lot of blood. Peter doesn't think he ever remembers seeing so much blood come out of someone as small as M.J. He tries to take a survey of what all is wrong, other than the obvious pole. He sees another pool of blood forming on her other side and gently lifts her shirt. There is a gaping hole in her side where it looks like something tore into her stomach. 

Peter thinks quick and rips part of the hem of his shirt; it would have to do. He presses it to her side and puts pressure on it. She lets out a small whimper, and Peter apologizes. He knows how much this sucks, but he has to get a handle on the bleeding. The hand that is not occupied strays down to his phone, where he can hear the muffled shouts of Mr. Stark. 

"Kid? I swear to God if you don't answer me I am going to kill you," Tony says as Peter puts the phone back to his ear. 

"Mr. Stark. Please. I need you to hurry. I can't… there's so much blood."

"Whose blood? What happened?" Mr. Stark asks, voice rising slightly. 

"M.J. She … I couldn't… I wasn't fast enough," Peter pauses, "please." 

"Okay, kid. It's gonna be okay. Rhodey is with me and he can take a look at her. I need you to calm down Underoos. Can you do that?" Tony asks. 

Peter glances at M.J. She is getting pale, and the blood from her side is seeping through his fingers. 

When Peter doesn't answer, Tony reassures, "I'm only a minute away. I'm coming. Hold on." 

Ned is speaking to M.J., trying to get her to calm down. Her lip is shaking, and Peter can tell she is doing everything in her power to not cry. 

"Wait until I get my hands on whoever built that stupid thing," M.J. says through gritted teeth. 

"Tony Stark probably wouldn't even be able to save them from you. But first, you have to hold on, get better, and then you can go kick their asses," Ned promises.

"I'm so sorry, M.J.," Peter whispers.

M.J. looks at him like he's an idiot, which doesn't surprise him really, she looks at him like that a lot. "I'm sorry, I forgot you had super human speed. Oh wait, you don't. That didn't come in the super special Spidey pack."

"I just … I should have been faster."

"Shut up, Parker. If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of bleeding out here, and I prefer that my last few moments on this god-forsaken Earth isn't listening to you try to guilt yourself about things that aren't your fault." It took a while for the sentences to come out of her lips. She had to stop multiple times, almost as if speaking was too painful. 

Before he can say anything else, he hears the sound of repulsors. He and Ned turn to look behind them. At first, all Peter can see is a glint in the sky, but as the figures come closer, he can make out the War Machine and Iron Man suits. Honestly, it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. 

Iron Man flies straight toward the robot that is still taking apart the school, while Colonel Rhodes heads toward Peter. If Peter thought about it for a second, it makes complete sense. Colonel Rhodes has to have some kind of field training for injuries. Doesn't the military give everyone medical training? At least a little? Peter's not sure, but he hopes so. 

Colonel Rhodes lands next to the three terrified teenagers and lifts his faceplate. "Hey kid, what've we got?" 

It takes Peter a second to realize that Colonel Rhodes is talking to him. "Um, hi, Mr. Colonel Rhodes, sir."

"Kid. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Rhodey?"

Without missing a beat, Peter says, "at least one more time."

Rhodey chuckles before kneeling down to look at M.J. He surveys the damage and ask permission to move her shirt so he can see the extent of her injuries. M.J. just raises an eyebrow before coming to the conclusion that it's not worth a sarcastic comment. 

Peter moves his hands so Colonel Rhodes can take over. Both of his hands are covered in blood. He can feel it hot and sticky on his skin.

"Rhodes, how are we doing down there?" comes Tony's voice.

Peter looks up to find Iron Man in a dance with the robot. He pivots out of the way just before one of the robot's arms can fling him from the sky. Repulsors fire out of the suit knocking the robot back but not enough to make the thing fall. Peter hears Mr. Stark curse and then say something to F.R.I.D.A.Y. 

"Not good, Tones. She's losing a lot of blood, and I can't do anything about it until I get this pole out of her."

Mr. Stark shakes his head. "Alright, Fri, lasers." 

Iron Man clenches his fist and raises it towards the robot. A stream of yellow shoots out and grazes the robot, sending pieces flying. The first thing it targets is the robot's various arms. Thankfully no one was underneath the machine because the arms fall to the Earth with an ear-shattering crash. Once Iron man takes out its legs, the thing falls to the ground.

"Well that works for now," Mr. Stark mutters. "Alright, let's get her to the compound."

"Tony, you know there's a hospital right down the road, right?" Colonel Rhodes asks.

Mr. Stark gives an exasperated sigh, "yeah, Honey Bear, but they don't have the doctors that I do. The kid will be better off coming with us, we just need to let her parents know what happened."

Peter watches as Colonel Rhodes takes M.J. in his arms after warning her that it was going to hurt. To her credit, she only lets out a small cry when she is first shifted. Peter isn't sure if they should be moving her, but then again, he has almost zero knowledge of medical stuff. The closest he comes to dealing with medical issues are cuts and bruises after a night of patrol. 

"Hey kid, you need a ride?" Mr. Stark asks when he lands next to Peter.

"Um. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to…"

Ned cuts him off, "Yes sir, he does. He will definitely take a ride."

"Dude," Peter whispers.

"Don't 'dude' me, Peter. I'll let M.J.'s parents know what happened and where she is. And I'll let May know what happened but right now you need to go. M.J. needs someone with her that's not encased in metal. She's probably scared out of her mind right now."

Peter lets out a sigh. "Thanks, man. I owe you one."

"As much as I appreciate this heart-to-heart moment, we need to get going. Don't worry I'll call someone to come get the robot of doom," Mr. Stark sounds impatient. 

Peter nods his head and lets Mr. Stark carry him to the compound.

~

Peter is sitting in the waiting room at the compound. His leg is bouncing with pent-up energy, and it feels like he's been there forever. Ned finally got ahold of M.J.'s parents, and they were on their way. Aunt May was hysterical when she found out that his school had been attacked, but calmed down once it was clear that Peter wasn't the target.

After they left the school, Mr. Stark took the readings that he got from the robot to his lab. He muttered something about finding out "what kind of dipshit is responsible for scaring innocent children". 

Peter has heard nothing about M.J. and how she's doing, but he supposes that no news is good news. Would they even be able to tell him if something terrible happened? Wasn't there some kind of law that said if he wasn't family, he couldn't know anything?

Peter stares down at his hands. He can still feel the heat that was on his skin from M.J.'s blood. As soon as they got to the compound he went to the bathroom and washes his hands but he can still see a red tint do them. It's like the stain of M.J.'s blood is a reminder that he failed. 

That's how Mr. Stark finds him an hour later, hands out in front of him, leg bouncing, eyes boring into his palms. Mr. Stark sits down gently next to Peter but doesn't say anything for a few minutes. He can feel Mr. Stark's eyes on him and it makes him want to fidget. He's afraid to look at the man and see the disappointment etched across his face.

"How you doing, kiddie?" Mr. Stark asks quietly after a few moments.

Peter shrugs. He rubs his hands together slowly as if trying to get the tint to go away, but its an action that will hopefully be seen as nerves. 

"Come on, kid, I know you. I know you're sitting here beating yourself up thinking about what you could have done differently to help her faster. Am I wrong?"

Peter shrugs again. He doesn't want to confirm Mr. Stark's theory, but he also knows that if he opens his mouth and lies, Mr. Stark won't believe him anyway. 

Mr. Stark hesitates, "We found out who built the robot." When Peter doesn't reply, Mr. Stark continues, "It turns out it's some teacher who was fired last year because his idea of teaching children involved him recruiting them to build machines with weapons. I guess he wasn't too happy when parents complained. It's all very melodramatic the way he handled it."

Peter remembers hearing about that. The man ended up being fired because one of his students got hurt when they were building a flamethrower. The principal said something about non-sanctioned projects and endangering students lives on the news. Peter thought the guy just had a little bad judgment, but now it's clear that he is not a safe person to be around, well, anyone.

M.J. is hurt because this teacher is bitter because he lost his job.

"Have you heard anything about M.J.?" Peter asks quietly.

Mr. Stark nods, "Yeah, I just talked to her parents. It looks like she's going to be fine. She lost a lot of blood and they had to go in and repair part of her large intestines but other than that it wasn't too bad. She's going to be in a lot of pain for a while, but she'll make a full recovery."

Peter hangs his head in relief, "I'm glad."

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Mr. Stark clears his throat. "You do know that her getting hurt isn't your fault, right?"

Peter doesn't answer right away, instead, he stares at his hands, "I wasn't fast enough."

Mr. Stark makes a sound like a buzzer. "Nope, wrong. Try again."

Peter looks at the man incredulously, "but I wasn't. I should have been better. It should have known sooner or yelled for her to get away before it got out of control. I should have had my suit and web-shooters. I should have been better. It was my responsibility."

"Kid, sometimes bad things just happen. You're not gonna save them all. And anyway this is a win. Michelle is going to be fine, Mr. what's his face is going to be rotting in a cell for the rest of his natural life, and you get a few months off of school." 

"But…"

"No."

"I just…"

"Nope."

"I'm sor…"

"Kid, I swear if you say you're sorry, you're grounded. Listen to me," Mr. Stark turns his body to face Peter, "you did everything that you could do. It's not up to you to save everyone, Pete. No one blames you for this. In fact if you weren't there to put pressure on her wound, she probably would have died."

The thought of M.J. being dead makes Peter's stomach drop. He doesn't know what he would do if she had actually died. The thought is sobering. 

"Can I see her?" Peter asks, finally making eye contact with Mr. Stark.

There is something soft in Mr. Starks eyes when he says, "Sure kiddo. That's part of the reason why I came out here, she's awake. And she's asking for you, well less asking and more demanding, and something about her 'not needing that loser to blame himself'." 

Peter chuckles, because that _is_ something that M.J. would say. Mr. Stark puts a hand on Peter's shoulder and gives it a light squeeze before beckoning him towards M.J.'s room. M.J. was going to be okay. And that's what matters.


End file.
